upon another point which also perhaps is as Questionable as the former and by this time our spirit of devotion is a little discomposed and something out of countenance there is so much other imployment for the spirit the spirit of discerning and judging All which inconveniences are avoyded in set formes of Liturgy For we know before hand the conditions of our Communion and to what we are to say Amen to which if we like it we may repaire if not there is no harm done your devotion shall not be surprized nor your Communion invaded as it may be and often is in your ex tempore prayers And this thing hath another collaterall inconvenience which is of great consideration for upon what confidence can we sollicite any Recusants to come to our Church where we cannot promise them that the devotions there to be used shall be innocent nor can we put him into a condition to judge for himselfe If hee will venture he may but we can use no Argument to make him choose our Churches though he should quit his own 3. But again let us consider with sobriety Are not those Numb 34. prayers and hymnes in holy Scripture excellent compositions admirable instruments of devotion full of piety rare and incomparable addresses to God Dare any man with his gift of prayer pretend that he can ex tempore or by study make better Who dares pretend that he hath a better spirit then David had or then the Apostles and Prophets and other holy persons in Scripture whose Prayers and Psalmes are by Gods Spirit consigned to the use of the Church for ever Or will it be denyed but that they also are excellent directories and patterns for prayer And if patterns the nearer we draw to our example are not the imitations and representments the better And what then if we took the samplers themselves is there any imperfection in them and can we mend them and correct Magnificat In a just porportion and commensuration I argue so concerning the primitive and ancient forms of Church service which are composed Numb 35. according to those so excellent patterns which if they had remained pure as in their first institution or had alwayes been as they have been reformed by the Church of England they would against all defiance put in for the next place to those formes or Liturgy which Mutatis mutandis are nothing but the Words of Scripture But I am resolved at this present not to enter into Question concerning the matter of prayers But for the forme this I say further 4. That the Church of God hath the promise of the spirit made to her in generall to her in her Catholick and united capacity Numb 36. to the whole Church first then to particular Churches then in the lowest seat of the Category to single persons Now then I infer if any single persons will have us to believe without all possibility of proofe for so it must be that they pray with the Spirit for how shall they be able to prove the spirit actually to abide in those single persons then much rather must we believe it of the Church which by how much the more generall it is so much the more of the spirit she is likely to have and then if there be no errours in the matter the Church hath the advantage and probability on her side and if there be an errour in matter in either of them they faile of their pretences neither of them have the spirit But the publick spirit in all reason is to be trusted before the private when there is a contestation the Church being Prior potior in premissis she hath a greater and prior title to the spirit And why the Church hath not the spirit of prayer in her compositions as well as any of her children I desire once for all to be satisfied upon true grounds either of reason or revelation 5. Or if the Church shall be admitted to have the gift and the spirit of prayer given unto her by virtue of the great promise Numb 37. of the spirit to abide with her for ever yet for all this she is taught to pray in a set form of prayer and yet by the spirit too For what think we When Christ taught us to pray in that incomparable modell the Lords Prayer if we pray that prayer devoutly and with pious and actuall intention doe we not pray in the Spirit of Christ as much as if we prayed any other form of words pretended to be taught us by the Spirit Wee are sure that Christ and Christs Spirit taught us this Prayer they only gather by conjectures and opinions that in their ex tempore forms the spirit of Christ teaches them So much then as certainties are better then uncertaines and God above man so much is this set form besides the infinite advantages in the matter better then their ex tempore forms in the form it selfe 6. If I should descend to minutes and particulars I could instance Numb 38. in the behalfe of set forms that God prescribed to Moses a set form of prayer and benediction to be used when he did blesse the people 7. That Moses composed a song or hymne for the children of Israel to use to all their generations 8. That David composed many for the service of the tabernacle 9. That Solomon and the holy Kings of Judah brought them in and continued them in the ministration of the temple 10. That all Scripture is written for our learning and since all these and many more set forms of prayer are left there upon record it is more then probable that they were left there for our use and devotion 11. That S. John Baptist taught his Disciples a forme of prayer 12. And that Christs Disciples begged the same favour and it was granted as they desired it 13. And that Christ gave it not only in massâ materiae but in forma verborum not in a confused heap of matter but in an exact composure of words it makes it evident he intended it not only pro regula petendorum for a direction of what things we are to ask but also pro forma orationis for a set form of Prayer In which also I am most certainly confirmed besides the universall testimony of Gods Church so attesting it in the precept which Christ added When ye pray pray after this manner and indeed it points not the matter only of our prayers but the form of it the manner and the matter of the addresse both But in the repetition of it by Saint Luke the preceptive words seeme to limit us and direct us to this very form of words when ye pray say Our Father c. 14. I could also adde the example of all the Jewes and by consequence of our blessed Saviour who sung a great part of Davids Psalter in their feast of Passeover which part is called by the Iewes the great Hallelujah it begins at the 113 Psalm and
at this day vex Christendome And both speak true The first Ages speak greatest truth but least pertinently The next Ages the Ages of the foure generall Councels spake something not much more pertinently to the present Questions but were not so likely to speak true by reason of their dispositions contrary to the capacity and circumstance of the first Ages and if they speak wisely as Doctors yet not certainly as witnesses of such propositions which the first Ages noted not and yet unlesse they had noted could not possibly be Traditions And therefore either of them will be lesse uselesse as to our present affaires For indeed the Questions which now are the publike trouble were not considered or thought upon for many hundred years and therefore prime Tradition there is none as to our purpose and it will be an insufficient medium to be used or pretended in the determination and to dispute concerning the truth or necessity of Traditions in the Questions of out times is as if Historians disputing about a Question in the English Story should fall on wrangling whether Livie or Plutarch were the best Writers And the earnest disputes about Traditions are to no better purpose For no Church at this day admits the one halfe of those things which certainly by the Fathers were called Traditions Apostolicall and no Testimony of ancient Writers does consign the one halfe of the present Questions to be or not to be Traditions So that they who admit only the Doctrine and Testimony of the first Ages cannot be determined in most of their doubts which now trouble us because their Writings are of matters wholy differing from the present disputes and they which would bring in after Ages to the Authority of a competent judge or witnesse say the same thing for they plainly confesse that the first Ages spake little or nothing to the present Question or at least nothing to their sense of them for therefore they call in aid from the following Ages and make them suppletory and auxiliary to their designs and therefore there are no Traditions to our purposes And they who would willingly have it otherwise yet have taken no course it should be otherwise for they when they had opportunity in the Councels of the last Ages to determine what they had a mind to yet they never nam'd the number nor expressed the particular Traditions which they would faine have the world believe to be Apostolicall But they have kept the bridle in their own hands and made a reserve of their own power that if need be they may make new pretensions or not be put to it to justifie the old by the engagement of a conciliary declaration Lastly We are acquitted by the Testimony of the Primitive Fathers from any other necessity of believing then of Numb 11. such Articles as are recorded in Scripture And this is done by them whose Authority is pretended the greatest Argument for Tradition as appears largely in Irenaeus who disputes professedly for the sufficiency of Scripture against certain Hereticks who L. 3. c. 2. contr haeres affirm some necessary truths not to be written It was an excellent saying of S. Basil and will never be wipt out with all the eloquence of Perron in his Serm. de fide Manifestus est fidei lapsus liquidum superbiae vitium vel respuere aliquid eorum quae Scriptura habet vel inducere quicquam quod scriptum non est And it is but a poore device to say that every particular Tradition is consigned in Scripture by those places which give Authority to Tradition and so the introducing of Tradition is not a super-inducing any thing over or besides Scripture because Tradition is like a Messenger and the Scripture is like his Letters of Credence and therefore Authorizes whatsoever Tradition speaketh For supposing Scripture does consign the Authority of Tradition which it might doe before all the whole Instrument of Scripture it self was consign'd and then afterwards there might be no need of Tradition yet supposing it it will follow that all those Traditions which are truly prime and Apostolicall are to be entertain'd according to the intention of the Deliverers which indeed is so reasonable of it selfe that we need not Scripture to perswade us to it it selfe is authentick as Scripture is if it derives from the same fountain and a word is never the more the Word of God for being written nor the lesse for not being written but it will not follow that whatsoever is pretended to be Tradition is so neither is the credit of the particular instances consign'd in Scripture dolosus versatur in generalibus but that this craft is too palpable And if a generall and indefinite consignation of Tradition be sufficient to warrant every particular that pretends to be Tradition then S. Basil had spoken to no purpose by saying it is Pride Apostasy from the Faith to bring in what is not written For if either any man brings in what is written or what he sayes is delivered then the first being expresse Scripture and the second being consign'd in Scripture no man can be charged with superinducing what is not written he hath his Answer ready And then these are zealous words absolutely to no purpose but if such generall consignation does not warrant every thing that pretends to Tradition but only such as are truly proved to be Apostolicall then Scripture is uselesse as to this particular for such Tradition gives testimony to Scripture and therefore is of it selfe first and more credible for it is credible of it selfe and therefore unlesse S. Basil thought that all the will of God in matters of Faith and Doctrine were written I see not what end nor what sense he could have in these words For no man in the world except Enthusiasts and mad-men ever obtruded a Doctrine upon-the Church but he pretended Scripture for it or Tradition and therefore no man could be pressed by these words no man confuted no man instructed no not Enthusiasts or Montanists For suppose either of them should say that since in Scripture the holy Ghost is promised to abide with the Church for ever to teach whatever they pretend the Spirit in any Age hath taught them is not to super-induce any thing beyond what is written because the truth of the Spirit his veracity and his perpetuall teaching being promised and attested in Scripture Scripture hath just so consign'd all such Revelations as Perron saith it hath all such Traditions But I will trouble my selfe no more with Arguments from any humane Authorities but he that is surprized with the beliefe of such Authorities and will but consider the very many Testimonies of Antiquity to this purpose as of a Orat. ad Nicen PP apud Theodor. l. 1. c. 7. Constantine b In Matth. l. 4. c. 23. in Aggaeum S. Hierom c De bono viduil c. 1. S. Austin d Orat. contr gent. S. Athaenasius e In
ends at the 118 inclusively And the Scripture mentions it as part of our blessed Saviours devotion and of his Disciples that they sung a Psalme 15. That this afterward became a Precept Evangelicall that we should praise God in Hymnes Psalmes and spirituall Songs which is a form of Liturgy in which we sing with the spirit but yet cannot make our Hymnes ex tempore it would be wild stuffe if we should goe about it 16. And lastly that a set form of worship and addresse to God was recorded by Saint John and sung in heaven and it was Apoc. 15. composed out of the songs of Moses Exod. 15. of David Psal. 145. and of Jeremy Chap. 10. 6 7. which certainly is a very good precedent for us to imitate although but revealed to Saint John by way of vision and extasie All which and many more are to me as so many Arguments of the use excellency and necessity of set forms of Prayer for publick Liturgies and of greatest conveniencie even for private devotions 17. And so the Church of God in all Ages did understand it Numb 39. I shall not multiply Authorities to this purpose for they are too many and various but shall only observe two great instances of their beliefe and practise in this particular 1. The one is the perpetuall use and great Eulogies of the Lords Prayer assisted by the many Commentaries of the Fathers upon it 2. The other is that solemn form of benediction and mysticall prayer as Saint Augustine calls it Lib. 3. de Trinit c. 4. which all Churches and themselves said it was by Ordinance Apostolicall used in the Consecration of the blessed Sacrament But all of them used the Lords Prayer in the Canon and office of Consecration and other prayers taken from Scripture so Justin Martyr testifies that the Consecration is made per preces verbi Dei by the prayers taken from the Word of God and the whole Canon was short determined and mysterious Who desires to be further satisfied in this particular shall Numb 40. find enough in Walafridus Strabo Aymonius Cassander Elacius Illyrious Josephus Vicecomes and the other Ritualists and the other Ritualists and in the old offices themselves So that I need not put you in mind of that famous doxology of Gloria Patria c. nor the Trisagion nor any of those memorable hymnes used in the Ancient Church so knownly and frequently that the beginning of them came to bee their name and they were known more by their own words then the Authors inscription At last when some men that thought themselves better gifted Numb 41. would be venturing at conceived formes of their own there was a timely restraint made in the Councell of Milevis in Africa Placuit ut preces quae probatae fuerint in Concilio ab omnibus celebrentur nec aliae omnino dicantur in Ecclesia nisi quae à prudentioribus factae fuerint in Synodo That 's the restraint and prohibition publick prayers must be such as are publickly appointed and prescribed by our Superiours and no private forms of our conceiving must be used in the Church The reason followes Ne forte aliquid contra fidem vel per ignorantiam vel per minus studium sit compositum Lest through ignorance or want of deliberation any thing be spoken in our prayers against faith and good manners The reason is good and they are eare-witnesses of it that hear the variety of prayers before and after Sermons there where the Directory is practised where to speak most modestly not only their private opinions but also humane interests and their own personall concernments and wild fancies born perhaps not two dayes before are made the objects of the peoples hopes of their desires and their prayers and all in the meane time pretend to the holy Spirit I will not now instance in the vaine-glory that is appendant Numb 42. to these ex tempore formes of prayer where the gift of the man is more then the devotion of the man nor will I consider that then his gift is best when his prayer is longest and if he take a complacency in his gift as who is not apt to doe it he will be sure to extend his Prayer till a suspicious and scrupulous man would be apt to say his prayer pressed hard upon that which our blessed Saviour reprehended in the Pharisees who thought to bee heard for their much babling But these things are accidentall to the nature of the thing And therefore though they are too certainly consequent to the person yet I will not be too severe but preserve my selfe on the surer side of charitable construction which truly I desire to keep nor only to their persons whom I much reverence but also to their actions But yet I durst not doe the same thing even for these last reasons though I had no other But it is objected that in set forms of Prayer we restrain and Numb 43. confine the blessed Spirit and in conceived forms when every man is left to his liberty then the Spirit is free unlimited and unconstrained I answer either their conceived formes I use their own words Numb 44. though indeed the expression is very inartificiall are premeditate and described or they are ex tempore If they be premeditate and described then the Spirit is as much limited in their conceived forms as in the Churches conceived forms For as to this particular it is all one who describes and limits the form whether the Church or a single man does it still the Spirit is in constraint and limit So that in this case they are not angry at set forms of Prayer but that they do not make them And if it be replyed that if a single person composes a set form he may alter it if he please and so his spirit is at liberty I answer so may the Church if she see cause for it and unlesse there be cause the single person will not alter it unlesse he do things unreasonable and without cause So that it will be an unequall and a peevish quarrell to allow of set forms of prayer made by private persons and not of set forms made by the publick spirit of the Church It is evident that the Spirit is limited in both alike But if by Conceived forms in this objection they meane Numb 45. ex tempore prayers for so they most generally practice it and that in the use of these the liberty of the spirit is best preserved To this I answer that the being ex tempore or premeditate will be wholly impertinent to this Question of limiting the spirit For there may be great liberty in set forms even when there is much variety and there may be great restraint in ex tempore prayers even then when it shall be called unlawfull to use set forms That the spirit is restrained or that it is free in either is accidentall to them both for it may be either free
as in the cases before instanced And I am sure if the people be intelligent and can discern they are hindred in their Devotion for they dare not say Amen till they have considered and many such cases will occurre in ex tempore prayers that need much considering before we attest them But if the people bee not intelligent they are apt to swallow all the inconveniencies which may multiply in so great a licence and therefore it were well that the Governours of the Church who are to answer for their soules should judge for them before they say Amen which judgement cannot bee without set-forms of Liturgy My sentence therefore is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us be as we are already Few changes are for the better For if it be pretended that in the Liturgy of the Church of Numb 64. England which was composed with much art and judgement by a Church that hath as much reason to be confident she hath the Spirit and gifts of Prayer as any single person hath and each learned man that was at its first composition can as much prove that he had the Spirit as the objectors now adayes and he that boasts most certainly hath the least If I say it be pretended there are many errours and inconveniences both in the order and the matter of the Common-Prayer Book made by such men with so much industry How much more and with how much greater reason may we all dread the inconveniencies and disorders of ex tempore prayers where there is neither conjunction of heads nor premeditation nor industry nor method nor art nor any of those things or at least not in the same degree which were likely to have exempted the Common-Prayer Book from errours and disorders If these things be in the green tree what will be done in the dry But if it be said the ex tempore and conceived prayers will Numb 65. be secured from errour by the Directory because that chalks them out the matter I answer it is not sufficient because if when men study both the matter and the words too they may be and it is pretended are actually erroneous much more may they when the matter is left much more at liberty and the words under no restraint at all And no man can avoid the pressure and the weight of this unlesse the Compilers of the Directory were infallible and that all their followers were so too of the certainty of which I am not yet fully satisfied And after all this I would fain know what benefit and advantages Numb 66. shall the Church of England in her united capacity and every particular in the diffused capacity receive by this new device For the publike it is cleare that whether the Ministers pray before they study or study before they pray there must needs be infinite deformity in the publike worship and all the benefits which were before the consequents of conformity and unity will be lost and if they be not valuable I leave it to all them to consider who know the inconveniences of publike disunion and the publike disunion that is certainly consequent to them who doe not communicate in any common formes of worship And to think that the Directory will bring conformity is as if one should say that all who are under the same Hemisphere are joyned in communi patriâ and will love like Countrymen for under the Directory there will be as different Religions and as different desires and as differing formes as there are severall varieties of men and manners under the one halfe of heaven who yet breath under the same halfe of the Globe But I ask again what benefit can the publike receive by this forme or this no form for I know not whether to call it Shall the matter of prayers be better in all Churches shall God be better served shall the word of God and the best patterns of prayers be alwayes exactly followed It is well if it be But there is security given us by the Directory for the matter is left at every mans dispose for all that and we must depend upon the honesty of every particular for it and if any man proves a Heretick or a Knave then he may introduce what impiety he please into the publick formes of Gods worship and there is no law made to prevent it and it must be cured afterwards if it can but before-hand it is not prevented at all by the Directory which trusts every man But I observe that all the benefit which is pretended is that it will make an able Ministery which I confesse I am very much from believing and so will every man be that considers what kind of men they are that have been most zealous for that way of conceived prayer I am sure that very few of the learnedst very many ignorants most those who have made least abode in the Schools of the Prophets And that I may disgrace no mans person we see Tradesmen of the most illiberall arts and women pretend to it and doe it with as many words and that 's the maine thing with as much confidence and speciousnesse and spirit as the best among them And it is but a small portion of learning that will serve a man to make conceived formes of prayer which they have easily upon the stock of other men or upon their own fancie or upon any thing in which no learning is required He that knowes nothing of the craft may be in the Preachers trade But what Is God better served I would faine see any Authority or any reason or any probability for that I am sure ignorant men offer him none of the best sacrifices ex tempore and learned men will be sure to deliberate and know God is then better 〈◊〉 when he served by a publike then when by a private 〈◊〉 I cannot imagine what accruements will hence come to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it may be some advantages may be to the private 〈…〉 For there are a sort of men whom our blessed 〈…〉 do devoure widowes houses and for a pre 〈…〉 They make prayers and they make 〈…〉 meanes they receive double advantages for 〈…〉 to their ability and to their piety And although the Common-prayer Book in the Preface to the Directory bee charged with unnecessary length yet we see that most of these men they that are most eminent or would be so make their prayers longer and will not lose the benefits which their credit gets and they by their credit for making their prayers Adde to this that there is no promise in Scripture that he who prayes ex tempore shall be heard the better or that he shall bee assisted at all to such purposes and therefore to innovate in so high a matter without a warrant to command us or a promise to warrant us is no better then vanity in the thing and presumption in the person He therefore that considers that this way of prayer is without all manner of precedent in